Plans To Stop Motorhomes Parking Dornoch

[Fisherman]

I feel that a lot of the issues now becoming ascotiated with wild camping are caused by the most inconsiderate & ignorant section of society.
They feel that the local people whom they are inconveniencing, are not able to stop them behaving like toddlers, because they don't know who they are.
They have no conception of the true wild camping etiquete because they are totally unaware of how decent, responsible people act & are more than willing to let someone else clear up their mess!!

I am perfectly ok with paying a fee for the use of a CL etc., that has a few facilities to make life easier & I would prefer these places to be away from the maddening crowd.

Phill

Good post Phill spot on.

Yes there are a few idiots who spoil it for the rest of us, who are considerate.
I have noticed more and more no overnight parking signs going up in areas previously available to us.
In areas well away from houses and in rural locations.

 

[Fisherman]

The places mentioned are seaside towns which make money from day trippers and boy racers. Motorhomes using the carparks as a campsite is the issue. Have we forgot the arrive late and leave early, leave no trace and if all ready occupied find another place. I think the old Wildcamping rule book has been thrown on the bonfire. I think Fisherman would like the whole of Bonnie Scotland to be run by Loch Lomond and Trosachs clowns.

Tell me Caledonia what rule book are you referring to.
Never heard of a rule book, I have read some guidelines, including the guidelines offered on this forum.
Perhaps I can refresh your memory.
Nowhere in any guidelines I have read does it state you must arrive late and leave early, this forum like all others I have read state a max of two nights, something which I adhere to.

Also you make reference to and I quote “clowns run by Loch Lomond and the Trossachs”
Well thanks to campaigning by people like myself and others we avoided a complete ban from April to October. And before you get on your high horse and blame Motorhomes for this we had little to do with it.
The main problem being daytrippers and people staying overnight in tents, chopping down bushes and small trees and starting fires, and other aspects similar to what is still going on at Musselburgh, barriers or not.
I have no doubt had we been banned you would have come on here blaming fellow Motorhomers for the ban covering a large rural part of bonnie Scotland.
Also you may not be aware but similar plans for other parts of Scotland’s rural areas are a distinct possibility. Many on Skye wish to ban Motorhomes, and the problem is being created by a lack of facilities, and the sheer volume of traffic due to daytrippers wishing to drive onto Skye with no accommodation then leave the same day. Motorhomes only account for 3% of the traffic on Skye, and half of these are from abroad, but yet again we are being made to pay the price for a lack of forward planning and thinking. Two Hebridean islands now ban Motorhomes without proof of a campsite booking, and its growing each and every year.

Also I was completely unaware that car parks provided from our taxes were solely put their to improve the local economy, I thought they were a public convenience for motorists from all over the uk and abroad. Oh as for Lidl, there are other supermarkets available, we shop in M&S. :nospam:

I understand your desire to solely park in rural locations, but Dornoch is hardly Edinburgh is it.
The Dornochs are growing more and more each year. Surely it should be possible to sort something out.
Soon you will go to a rural site you have enjoyed many times in the past, only to find the dreaded signs telling you you are not welcome, as I have.

 

[mickymost]

Tell me Caledonia what rule book are you referring to.
Never heard of a rule book, I have read some guidelines, including the guidelines offered on this forum.
Perhaps I can refresh your memory.
Nowhere in any guidelines I have read does it state you must arrive late and leave early, this forum like all others I have read state a max of two nights, something which I adhere to.

Also you make reference to and I quote “clowns run by Loch Lomond and the Trossachs”
Well thanks to campaigning by people like myself and others we avoided a complete ban from April to October. And before you get on your high horse and blame Motorhomes for this we had little to do with it.
The main problem being daytrippers and people staying overnight in tents, chopping down bushes and small trees and starting fires, and other aspects similar to what is still going on at Musselburgh, barriers or not.
I have no doubt had we been banned you would have come on here blaming fellow Motorhomers for the ban covering a large rural part of bonnie Scotland.
Also you may not be aware but similar plans for other parts of Scotland’s rural areas are a distinct possibility. Many on Skye wish to ban Motorhomes, and the problem is being created by a lack of facilities, and the sheer volume of traffic due to daytrippers wishing to drive onto Skye with no accommodation then leave the same day. Motorhomes only account for 3% of the traffic on Skye, and half of these are from abroad, but yet again we are being made to pay the price for a lack of forward planning and thinking. Two Hebridean islands now ban Motorhomes without proof of a campsite booking, and its growing each and every year.

Also I was completely unaware that car parks provided from our taxes were solely put their to improve the local economy, I thought they were a public convenience for motorists from all over the uk and abroad. Oh as for Lidl, there are other supermarkets available, we shop in M&S. :nospam:

I understand your desire to solely park in rural locations, but Dornoch is hardly Edinburgh is it.
The Dornochs are growing more and more each year. Surely it should be possible to sort something out.
Soon you will go to a rural site you have enjoyed many times in the past, only to find the dreaded signs telling you you are not welcome, as I have.

Spot on reference Loch Lomond we were on a layby on the side of the Lomond and a caravan yes a caravan was set up car detached jacks down with awning out barbecue lit and beers flowing a plenty.But when the motorhome ban was introduced in the Lomond area these caravans were still welcome but not us MOtorhomes who were respecting the one night stayover but we were still penalised.Great they eventually had sense and dropped the ban..


As for public car parks we all pay a fortune in council tax and taxes on motoring fuel tax/insurance tax/road tax but some councils state no motorhomes welcome so why are motorhomers being discriminated against.. we pay our way..and daytrippers causing the problems!,,,

 

[caledonia]

Musselburgh provides facilities for motorhomes it’s called Drumhor Caravan Park. You really don’t get it do you? The problem isn’t the rubbish and the noisy cars. The problem is motorhomes abusing a lovely car park by using it as a THC. Dornoch is a lovely place and I actually lived at Elizabeth Terrace overlooking the third green at the RDGC. The wild camping rule book I refer to is part of the culture of this forum. The fiasco at Loch Lomond is different from Dornoch and Mussie and the park authorities made a right mess of that. You may enjoy spending a weekend peeking out a crack in your curtains at the boy racers and yobs at Mussie harbour but I enjoy a peaceful night not far away from you in the Moorfoot hills. Each to their own.

 

[Fisherman]

Spot on reference Loch Lomond we were on a layby on the side of the Lomond and a caravan yes a caravan was set up car detached jacks down with awning out barbecue lit and beers flowing a plenty.But when the motorhome ban was introduced in the Lomond area these caravans were still welcome but not us MOtorhomes who were respecting the one night stayover but we were still penalised.Great they eventually had sense and dropped the ban..

These was not an actual ban Micky.
What was agreed was a permit system which allowed only 20 homes throughout the area at one time.
You had to apply for a permit at a cost of £10 and show it to the warden if asked to do so.

But a good man I know questioned the legal standing which he reckoned breached the access rights in Scotland as presently covered with in the act.
But there were also cost and logistical reasons, and a reluctance of police Scotland to intervene in what they questioned were dubious rules.

But yes it’s removal was welcomed, but it only served to highlight just how much out of touch local authorities are with regards to us. The levels of ignorance is breathtaking. I was asked by a councillor only last month does your Motorhome have a toilet. He thought that we had to go outside to do our business. And this was a man with the power to implement a ban on us.
I feel we have to try and educate them, make them realise that we don’t ask for much, and that the vast majority are decent people in the winter of our lives.

 

[mickymost]

These was not an actual ban Micky.
What was agreed was a permit system which allowed only 20 homes throughout the area at one time.
You had to apply for a permit at a cost of £10 and show it to the warden if asked to do so.

But a good man I know questioned the legal standing which he reckoned breached the access rights in Scotland as presently covered with in the act.
But there were also cost and logistical reasons, and a reluctance of police Scotland to intervene.

But yes it’s removal was welcomed, but it only served to highlight just how much out of touch local authorities are with regards to us. The levels of ignorance is breathtaking. I was asked by a councillor only last month does your Motorhome have a toilet. He thought that we had to go outside to do our business. And this was a man with the power to implement a ban on us.
I feel we have to try and educate them, make them realise that we don’t ask for much, and that the vast majority a decent people in the winter of our lives.

Ok so not a ban but it still limited the motorhome/campers using the areas and at a permit cost.great it was thrown out...Lol councillor and the toilet question to you.Yes we dont ask for much as many on here and have worked hard for most of our lives and just want to tour and relax as we feel fit,and dont need the hassle coming our way by overpaid council wallers who it seems by what you say havent got a clue!,,

Mike

 

[Fisherman]

Musselburgh provides facilities for motorhomes it’s called Drumhor Caravan Park. You really don’t get it do you? The problem isn’t the rubbish and the noisy cars. The problem is motorhomes abusing a lovely car park by using it as a THC. Dornoch is a lovely place and I actually lived at Elizabeth Terrace overlooking the third green at the RDGC. The wild camping rule book I refer to is part of the culture of this forum. The fiasco at Loch Lomond is different from Dornoch and Mussie and the park authorities made a right mess of that. You may enjoy spending a weekend peeking out a crack in your curtains at the boy racers and yobs at Mussie harbour but I enjoy a peaceful night not far away from you in the Moorfoot hills. Each to their own.

No it’s you that does not get it caledonia.

I to enjoy rural Scotland I am a keen hillwalker and outdoor enthusiast.
But unlike you I don’t think that everyone should concur with my tastes in pois.

Some of us wish to camp in non rural locations at times, if that’s not your cup of tea fair play to you.
But you seem only to willing to lay the blame on Motorhome owners, and willing to excuse the behaviour of others for commercial reasons.

As for the personal stuff, well feel free.

 

[caledonia]

No lets be honest, the attitude of local councils towards us is disgraceful.

My wife and I witnessed appalling behaviour at Musselburgh last visit.
Dog walkers leaving their dogs mess, drinking and shouting abuse, littering, turning on the water tap and leaving it running, Playing loud music till 1 am, and more.
In the morning we picked up all of their mess and binned it.
Now barriers have been put up preventing us from going back, but the yobs are still welcome.

We are easy targets, and the councillors are cajoled into these measures by the locals.

I take you back to the start. Musselburgh doesn’t have a problem with dog mess drunks and kids running the tap, you do! Musselburgh has a problem with motorhomes, hence the hieght barrier.
Dornoch is the same.

 

[Fisherman]

I take you back to the start. Musselburgh doesn’t have a problem with dog mess drunks and kids running the tap, you do! Musselburgh has a problem with motorhomes, hence the hieght barrier.
Dornoch is the same.

I have no problem with any of what others do.
I merely am attempting to point out that there are manifold problems within the carpark.
But the only one that has been dealt with is us.

In future I will simply take your advice Caledonia and move on elsewhere.
But the problem with that is, the elsewheres are getting thinner and thinner on the ground year by year.
I have a spot in Musselburgh currently available, but for how long who knows.
As for the offer of the caravan park you made just checked, it’s booked out for the next three weeks.
So much for just heading of in the spur of the moment eh.

 

[mickymost]

I take you back to the start. Musselburgh doesn’t have a problem with dog mess drunks and kids running the tap, you do! Musselburgh has a problem with motorhomes, hence the hieght barrier.
Dornoch is the same.

Havent been to musselburgh since the barrier was erected but I pressume one can still park on the other side i/e the harbour part,as other motorhomes have done in the past.But it seems we are not welcome so will now give musselburgh a wide berth.Its a shame as we have spent loads in the local area but those funds will now be spent elsewhere.As I stated earlier on this post the Local youth (boy racers to some who I havent a problem with)can continue to sling their rubbish out their car windows as witnessed by us.And they fit under the barrier we now cant.And no we werent peeking out of the motorhomes windows to witness this as our curtains were open.We dont hide and the younger generation dont frighten or intimidate us?Live and let live and you cant go wrong.But the local areas banning us with barriers are the loosers.

Mike